Fans musT not suffer

Ex-TTCB boss Murray on Red Steel issue:

TALLAWAHS WIN: Jamaica Tallawahs pacer Jerome Taylor, left, celebrates as he wins an lbw verdict against Shacaya Thomas of the Antigua Hawksbills in Limacaol Caribbean Premier League action at the Sir Vivian
Richards Stadium in Antigua yesterday. Taylor and the Tallawahs went on to win by sight wickets. See Page 70.
—Photo: courtesy CPL T20

Mark Fraser

Former Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board president Deryck Murray said while he understands the arguments from Minister of Sports Anil Roberts and CEO of the Limacol Caribbean Premier League (LCPL) Damien O’Donohoe on the naming controversy surrounding the Red Steel, he hoped both parties could work to a resolution that would not deprive local cricket fans of viewing CPL action live.

Doubts about the future of the team emerged after Red Steel captain Dwayne Bravo publicly criticised the decision to drop the Trinidad and Tobago name from the franchise, a response which prompted Minister of Sport Anil Roberts--on whose request the nbame was dropped--to call for the LCPL to make a statement on the matter.

On Wednesday, O’Donohoe said in a media release that theLCPL agreed with Roberts to remove the Trinidad and Tobago label from the Red Steel name. But he also stated that the Red Steel are not restricted to playing their home games in this country and that any decision on where the team is based is dependent on the commitment and support the CPL has already enjoyed with other governments and owners.

“It is difficult to answer straightforward to say if this is a bad thing or not but the two parties would need to meet for the issue to be resolved amicably. I could undersand both sides of the argument but at the end of the day, if there is a product that could be an attractive proposition, it would not be good for the Trinidad and Tobago public to be deprived of sharing in that entertainment value that it (the CPL) brings. So I hope there is a way for the issue to be resolved to the mutual benefit of sports lovers, “ Murray said yesterday.

O’Donohoe’s response hinted that the possibility exist that the Red Steel one day could not be based in T&T.

“The fans in Trinidad and Tobago are second to none. They were fantastic supporters of CPL during its first year, and we look forward to bringing more games to Trinidad and Tobago, no matter where the franchise is based,” the CPL statement ended.

Yesterday, Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board executive member Baldath Mahabir said what the LCPL, a private entity, decided to do in terms of basing the team in another country is totally up to them.

“We, the TTCB, are not involved in the Red Steel team. We have nothing, zero involvement in what is a private entity it,” Mahabir said, “ So whoever owns the CPL can do what they see fit in terms of moving the teams around to any other country. I guess the CPL would have to factor in the impact on the T&T cricket fans but that decision is totally theirs.” Mahabir said.